Window construction



J. F; LEVAN 2,02%772 WINDOW CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 1, 1932 Z ii 32 J ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 17, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WINDOW CONSTRUCTION John F. Levan, Elkhart, Ind., assignor to Excel Curtain Company, Elkhart, Ind., a, corporation of Delaware This invention relates to windows, such as are used in motor vehicles, which raise and lower into and out of the body of the vehicle or the body of the door; and has for its object a channel-shaped guide means having wear or weather strips at the mouth of the channel for coacting with or gripping opposite sides of the sash members, in order to hold the sash from rattling and to avoid scratching of the finished or plated surface of the sash due to its engagement with the guide or for eliminating a metal to metal contact between the sash and the guide, particularly on portions of the sash exposed when the window is closedor raised but at the same time gripping the sash.

It further has for its object a location of the weather or bufier strips far enough toward the center of the sash'member to engage a sash member which is inclined out of the vertical, over a comparatively long vertical line extending obliquely of the incline, when the sash is lowered, and thus creating a longer bearing surface than ordinarily for the buffer or weather strip on the inclined sash member when the sash is lowered or partly lowered, to hold the sash from the tendency to rattle, when the sash is lowered or partly lowered.

It further has for its object a sash made of members formed up of sheet metal or steel strips and having a veneer of finished-metal, as stainless steel, on the outer side thereof secured to the strip before the strip is formed up into the sash member by dies.

It further has for its object a corner strip of finished metal or stainless steel covering both faces of the channel of the sash member at the corner and the miter joint across the bottom of the channel, that is the entire corner and also folded to the inside of the channel at the interior angle of thecorner of the sash.

The invention consists in the novel features and in the combinations and constructions hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing in which like characters designate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is an elevation of this sash showing 50 the same applied to a hollow body, as a door body, with the guides forming part of this invention therein, the door body and the guides being shown in section.

Figure .2 .is a sectional yiewon line 22, Fig- Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view on line 33, Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through-one of the cornersof the sash.

I designates a hollow body, as the door body 5 of a motor vehicle having the usual slot at .2 at its upper edge. 3 designates a sash which is movable vertically through the slot into and out of the door body I, the sash having members which coact with channel-shaped guides supported 10 within the door body, the .guides receiving or embracing the sash members coacting therewith, and having weather or wear strips of yielding material,-as felt, extending lengthwise thereof at the entrances of the channel-shaped guides for 15 engaging the opposite sides of the sash members near .the inner edges of the sash members, one of these weather strips being mounted or carried so as to be spring pressed toward the other and thus .hold the sash from rattling in all positions 20 thereof, and also so as to eliminate a metal to metal contact between the sash members and their guides.

The sash 3 is here shown as provided with top and bottom rails 4, 5 and stiles 6, 1, these being 25 formed up of sheet metal, U -shaped in general form, to receive the margin of the glass pane 8 and the yielding filler or sea-t9, usually of rubber, for the margin of the glass pane. The sash members or stiles 6, l are also provided with exten- 30 sions or :tail pieces 1.0 depending into the hollow door body .I and coacting with the guides therein. The window is raised and lowered by any well-known mechanism including rocker arms ll having followers, as rollers, working in :a groove 35 I2 formed in the bottom rail or a strip secured to the bottom rail. The rocker arms are actuated in any suitable manner, not shown. As the window raising and lowering mechanism forms no part of this invention and iswell known 40 in the art, further description is thought to be unnecessary.

13 designates the channel-shaped guides for coacting with opposite members of the sash, that is, the stiles 6, 1 and the tail pieces 1'0. 45 These guides are channel-shaped in general form, and one of the side flanges, as I4, of a channel-shaped part or body 15, forming one side of the guide, a spring-pressed track or shoe l6 forming the other side of the channel-shaped guide, and the bottom of the channel-shaped supporting part l5 forming the bottom of the guide. This channel-shaped supporting part 1 5 is formed'with the side 14 and the opposite side I1 thereof supports the spring-pressed track 16. 55.

7 also provided with strips of yielding material 22 The side l4 and the track I6 are provided with inwardly facing channels l8 and I9, respectively, located at the entrances of the channels formed thereby, in which are located non-metallic protector strips and 2| of soft yielding material, as felt, engaging the sash members or stiles and their tail pieces near the inner edges thereof, as clearly seen in Figure 3, or along lines remote from the extreme outer edges of the sash members. The bottom of the channel-shaped part is interlaced therein for coacting with the edge of the sash member. There is practically no metal to metal contact betweenthe guides and the sash.

, The track H5 is spring pressed from the flange ll of the channel-shaped part I6, and as here shown, the track I6 is provided with studs 23 at intervals along its length, extending through openings in the flange I1, and springs are interposed between the flange l1 and the track 5, the springs encirclingthe studs. As here shown, the flange I1 is provided with looped portions 24 struck therefrom to form arches or bridges 24 through which the studs 23 slide, and the studs are provided with heads 25 at their outer ends. Thesprings encirclethe studs between the track l5 and the looped portions 24.

In some constructions, one or both of the stiles are inclined, as illustrated, by the inclination of the stile I. As the strips 20, 2| engage the sash members 6, and; their tail pieces near the inner edges thereof, the weather strips 20 and 2| coact with theinclined member I along a comparatively long vertical line at an, oblique angle to the inclination of the stile I, and thus get a comparatively long bearing surface when the sash is lowered or partly lowered, or along a bearing surface that they would not otherwise obtain on an inclined sash member, if the strips were not provided or not located near the inner edges of the sash members. Owing to the location of the strips 20 and 2|, the sash is firmly held from rattling in all positions, and also scratching of the finished or plated surface of the sash is snugly against the tail pieces without undue wear and distortion. As here shown, the tail'pieces are provided with pairs of rollers suitably mounted therein at spaced apart points, one roller 26 of each pair extending through a slot in one wall of the tailpiece to engage the track [6, and the other roller 26 extending through a slot' in the opposite wall of the tail piece to engage the side wall ;|4 of the channel. The rollers are mounted on suitable axles in carriages in the tail pieces and as shown these axles are balls 21.. The manner of mounting the rollers in the tail pieces and the use of rollers generally in such a location, form no part of this invention except in connection with the protector strips 20, 2|.

As sashes are plated after they are formed an the plating, after they are formed, adds materially to the cost of the sash, and fur ther as the strips cannot be plated before being formed up by the dies, as the plating would be scratched during the fq m n QReF tiQB, haverrovideda pare ticularly simple and economical sash construction consisting of applying a Veneer of finished metal, as stainless steel, to the sash members,

the veneer being applied to the strips from which the members are formed so that the strips are formed up into the sash members with the veneer of stainless steel thereon. The dies do not mar the stainless steel.

30 designates the veneer of stainless steel, this extending entirely over the outer surfaces and edges of the channel-shaped body 3| of the sash member, that is, over the side flanges, the bottom and the edges of the side flanges at 32 and having its margins at 33 turned inwardly lapping the inner faces of the margins of the side flanges of the body 3|. Preferably, these side flanges having their margins reduced in thickness or formed with rabbets at 35 in which the margins 33 of. the veneer extend so that the additional thickness of the margins of the veneer will not interfere with the forming tools of rollers used in forming up the body from a. strip into a channel.

The rails and stiles are secured together at the corners by welding. As the bodies of the stiles and rails are sheet steel, the stiles and rails are butt-welded together at the, corners. The welding mars the finish of the stainless steel, and in order to cover the marred surface, I provide at each corner a strip 36 of material, as stainless steel, folded U-shaped in general form and having its side flanges or branches covering the abutting ends of the bodies of the rails and stiles and its intermediate part enclosing the outer corner at 31; and further having the inner ends 38 of its branches folded around the interior angle of the corner into the channel at the corner. This strip, as before stated, entirely encloses the joint at the corner.

This construction of the sash results in great economy compared with the construction where the sash is plated, after being formed, and further it results in a completely enclosedjoint a the corners of the sash.

What I claim is:

1. In a window construction, the combination of a hollow body formed with a slot in its upper edge, a window movable into and out of the body through the slot and including a sash having a member extending into the body, the body being formed with a guide for coacting with said member, said guide including a part channel shaped in cross section and having one of the side walls thereof provided with an inwardly projecting non-metallic protector strip at the mouth of the channel for engaging one, side of the sash meme ber, a spring pressed track supported by the other side of the channel shaped part and pressing toward the opposite side of the sash member, said track having a' non-metallic protector strip arranged opposite the former non-metallic protector strip and pressing against the other side of the sash, one of the sides of the channel shaped part and the bottom thereof together with said supporting track forming a channel shaped guide for the sash, and means carried by the sash memher and running on the track and the side of the channel opposed to the track for holding the sash member spaced apart from the track and the said opposing wall of the channel-shaped guide.

2. In a window construction, the combination of a window sash, and a body, the latter having a guide, the sash having a member coacting with the guide, said guidecomprising a sheet metal part channel-shaped in cross section and having 75 one of its side Walls provided at the mouth of the channel with a laterally extending portion shaped to form a groove opening into the channel at the mouth thereof and presented toward one side of the sash member in the channel, a spring-pressed track supported by the other side of the channelshaped part and pressing toward the opposite side of the sash member, said track being formed with a laterally extending portion at the mouth of the channel forming a groove facing the sash memher and non-metallic strips in said groove and en-- gaging opposite sides of the sash member at the entrance of the channel and tending to hold opposite sides of the sash member oiT the side wall and the track, and anti-friction means on the sash member engaging the side wall and the track.

3. In a window construction, the combination of a body, and a Window sash, the body having a guide and the sash coacting with the guide, the guide comprising walls opposed to opposite sides of the sash, said walls being formed with grooves at their inner edges toward the center of the sash,

said grooves facing toward opposite faces of the sash, non-metallic strips in said grooves and pressing against opposite sides of the sash, means projecting beyond the opposite faces of the sash and coacting with said walls for reducing the friction surface contact between the sash and said walls, and means for pressing one of said walls toward the other and thereby pressing the nonmetallic strips against opposite sides of the sash.

JOHN F. LEVAN. 

